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The initial sign the local man received of his situation was when a neighbor loudly knocked on his front door and told him his beloved Mini had plunged into a hole.

"I went out anticipating a small pothole under a tire or something like that. But when I walked out to take a look, I realized, oh, that truly is a significant cavity," he explained.

His vehicle had dropped into a 3-metre wide gap, possibly created by a collapsed mine shaft, and McKenzie has endured 25 days stuck in a bureaucratic "nightmare" trying to figure out how to retrieve his car.

The Core Problem: Unregistered Property

The complication is that the property has no registered owner. The authorities has said it can't remove the barriers blocking off the sinkhole until land ownership had been established. "It's a bit of a nightmare," said McKenzie, 36, a freelance creative. "It's red tape everywhere."

McKenzie has resided in the area in Redruth for about 10 years and in fact has a designated spot beside his house, but it is too narrow to be practical so he started leaving his car outside a local bakery. He had checked with both the bakery and the local authority that he would avoid receiving a parking fine.

"I had finally reached a point like I was getting somewhere, I had a reliable little car that was fuel-efficient and easy to keep on the road. It signified I could at last focus on trying to save up to take my daughter on her aspirational journey to Japan someday. She's always wanted to go."

The Incident and Aftermath

Then came that knock on the door on Saturday 1 November. "The person next door was very alarmed. The officers arrived and closed the zone off. We all had to stay in the houses because we can't get out without passing by the collapse. The highways people arrived, put the fence up, and then they came out and placed a second fence up surrounding it as well."

It is thought the opening may be an unlucky remnant of a historic local mine, a abandoned mining site.

McKenzie believed he would be without his car for a short period. But days have now turned into weeks.

A Possible Solution

An end may be approaching. The authorities has stated it will cooperate with McKenzie to – temporarily – remove the barriers to allow the car to be removed. He said: "They have agreed to assist my insurance company's recovery team and try to schedule a day and an acceptable way of getting it out that doesn't put anybody at risk."

The vehicle has been badly damaged and is probably to be declared a total loss. "At least I can say my Mini went out in a memorable way – not everyone can say their car was eaten by the ground beneath them," McKenzie noted.

Authority Response

A representative from the authorities expressed it sympathised with McKenzie. But it said: "This collapse did not happen on public property. We have made the area safe and advised the car owner that we will arrange to lift the fence to enable him to recover the car.

"As the land is unregistered, our safety measures will stay up until land ownership has been determined, and we will continue to observe the vicinity to guarantee public safety."